ICANN

Coalition for Digital Africa Announces IXP Initiative

This latest initiative announced by the Coalition for Digital Africa will focus on strengthening the Internet infrastructure across the continent by enhancing five existing Internet exchange points (IXPs). The initiative is supported by a grant from ICANN and will be implemented by the Internet Society (ISOC) and will involve identifying five IXPs based on their potential to make a high impact on the respective local and sub-regional markets. more

ISOC Reinforces Commitment to IANA Transition Post ICANN President Step Down

Internet Society President and CEO, Kathryn C. Brown released a statement today stressing the organization’s continued commitment to the stewardship transition of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions to the global Internet community -- emphasizing that this process is key to maintaining long-term value in the collaborative, multistakeholder model of Internet governance. more

How to Place Top-Level Domain Trust Anchors in the Root

The project to sign the DNS root zone with DNSSEC took an additional step toward completion yesterday with the last of the "root server" hosts switching to serving signed DNSSEC data. Now every DNS query to a root server can return DNSSEC-signed data, albeit the "deliberately unvalidatable" data prior to the final launch. Another key piece for a working signed root is the acceptance of trust anchors in the form of DS records from top-level domain operators. These trust anchors are used to form the chain of trust from the root zone to the TLD. more

Ensuring a Strong ICANN Accountability Framework

The U.S. Government's decision to transition its legacy role as the administrator of the IANA functions contract to the global multi-stakeholder community is an important step in the continued evolution of the Internet. While the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) supports this transition, we strongly believe that a comprehensive accountability framework, developed, agreed to and approved by the multi-stakeholder community must be in place in advance of finalizing any IANA transition recommendations. more

Registration Operations Workshop at ICANN57 Hyderabad

Following a very successful series of workshops held during IETF meetings, the next Registration Operations Workshop (ROW) is now being held during the upcoming ICANN meeting in Hyderabad, India. While the previous workshops were of advanced topics attended by industry experts, the current one will be more of a tutorial and is open to all interested parties. more

DotGreen Debrief: How the Applicant Auction Helps Mission-Driven Applicants

DotGreen announced on Friday that it has withdrawn its application for .green from ICANN's new gTLD program. We were surprised to hear the news, particularly after all of the effort that DotGreen has put into building a community and a movement around its application. While we at Innovative Auctions agree with Annalisa that the ICANN Last Resort auction would have been a poor choice for the DotGreen Community, we believe that the Applicant Auction is a great tool for single-string applicants who want to see their TLD used for a community purpose. more

US House Hearing Scheduled on Internet Stability, IANA Transition

The Subcommittee on Communications and Technology has scheduled a hearing for Wednesday, April 2, 2014 on "Ensuring the Security, Stability, Resilience, and Freedom of the Global Internet." more

The .ORG Debate Should be About What Its Users Want

I watch the controversy over the proposed sale of the .ORG domain with a mixture of bemusement and concern. Some in the ICANN community – mostly those who resent that the Internet ever became commercialized – oppose the sale of the Public Interest Registry to the for-profit company Ethos for $1.1 billion. The basis of their concern is that the domain for non-profits should be in the hands of a non-profit and that the new owners might increase the current $9.93 fee PIR charges for a domain. more

Addressing Recent Media Mischaracterizations of the .ORG Acquisition

Given the level of public interest in Ethos' acquisition of Public Interest Registry ("PIR") from the Internet Society, it is no surprise that this agreement continues to attract press attention. Ethos welcomes open discussion on this important investment, and we are of course following the media coverage closely. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to respond point-by-point to every article, so I would like to take this opportunity to address several mischaracterizations of the deal recently reported by Wired, Deutsche Welle, and others. more

3 Steps for Managing ICANN Registry Compliance

If you are like the majority of Registry Operators we have spoken to, you may now be thinking that compliance with your new gTLD Registry Agreement is much more difficult than first envisaged -- especially if you are one of the lucky operators which have been chosen for ICANN's latest round of registry audits! You may also be surprised at the number of questions and requests that you need to respond to. more

Cybercriminals Weaponize Bulk-Registered Domain Names

Domain names that can be rapidly acquired, used in an attack, and abandoned before they can be traced are a critical resource for cybercriminals. Some attacks, including spam and ransomware campaigns and criminal infrastructure operation (e.g., "botnets"), benefit particularly from the ability to rapidly and cheaply acquire very large numbers of domain names – a tactic known as bulk registration. more

The Hill: FCC Response to Sen. Cruz Reveals Hidden ICANN Agenda in Net Neutrality Order

Fred Campbell reporting in The Hill writes: "It's no secret that controversy has plagued the Obama Administration's plan to surrender U.S. oversight of the Internet domain naming and numbering systems from the current U.S.-based ICANN to the 'global multistakeholder community.' But the reason the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) declined to exercise its statutory jurisdiction over Internet numbering inside the United States was indeed secret until Senator Ted Cruz forced the FCC to explain itself." more

ICANN Security Team Reports on Conficker Post-Discovery Analysis

A paper released today by ICANN provides a chronology of events related to the containment of the Conficker worm. The report, "Conficker Summary and Review," is authored by ICANN's Dave Piscitello, Senior Security Technologist on behalf of the organization's security team. more

Dot App, Dot Art Among Most Applied-for TLDs According to List Revealed by ICANN

ICANN announced today that it has received 1,930 applications for its new generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) program. 884 from US based organizations, 40 are from the UK, 303 from the Asia-Pacific region and 17 from Africa. Rod Beckstrom, ICANN's CEO, during the "Reval Day" event that took place in London today said: "The internet is about to change forever -- now a powerful change is coming." more

Transition of Oversight of the IANA Functions: What is at Stake

As the expiry date of the current IANA Functions contract approaches (October 1st, 2016), some in the US Congress are challenging the validity of the proposal to transfer (or "transition") the ovesight role currently exercised by the US Administration, to a multistakeholder system equipped with checks and balances. A letter was sent to the President of the United States of America. Similar letters were sent to the Speaker and Leadership of the House of Representatives, as well as to the President pro tempore and Leadership of the Senate. more